~
"To crooked eyes truth may wear a wry face."
- J.R.R. Tolkien
~
The last two weeks went by quickly. Winter break was about a week away and I was more than ready to get the time out of school.
It's been exhausting.
Avoiding Devon because he is still pissy I didn't take his side in the fight.
Avoiding Ashley because I wasn't sure how to act around her after she gave me all those pills.
Avoiding Levi because he is still pissy I didn't take his fucking side in the fight.
Avoiding Grace because every time I see her I think about how there was something going on between Levi and Her and felt like I should tell Devon.
Avoiding Michael because he was still pissy I didn't take his fucking side in the fucking fight.
It was beyond tiring.
The only person keeping me sane was Emma.
It scares me how attached to her I've become, I don't know what I'll do once she leaves me. And, she will.
I was walking down the school hall to meet Emma so I could walk her to her next class.
"Daniel, just the person I've been looking for," Mr.Schindler said stopping me.
I rolled my eyes but forced a smile before turning to him.
"Good morning, Mr.Schindler. I didn't see you there." I said trying to be nice.
Nice wasn't exactly my thing.
"I wanted to talk to you about something, do you have a moment?" Mr.Schindler said as he adjusted his glasses.
The grin on his face was creeping me out.
I nodded my head slowly, whatever it was I wanted him to spit it out.
"Congratulations, Daniel. I just got informed that You're a finalist for the Youth Modern Art Competition." He said excitedly.
Wait, what?
"I'm going to New York?" I asked slowly.
I guess he took my delayed response as excitement.
He went on "Yes, you're going to New York. Good job, my boy." He said before suddenly pulling me into a hug.
The fuck?
I patted his back slowly before quickly pulling away from him.
He laughed as he adjusted his glasses.
"I guess I'll let you go, I assume you have a special girl waiting for you?" He said with a raised brow. No doubt referring to Emma.
Maybe, I made my collection a bit too personal about my life...
I didn't have to be told twice. I quickly wished him a farewell and walked away.
When I reached Emma's classroom she was waiting at the door for me. Her teacher Mrs.Young smiled at me.
Emma was wearing a large yellow sweater with a painting pallet in the front, black jeans, her glasses, and cane.
It was ironic to me that for someone who couldn't see color she sure made it her mission to wear yellow more often than not.
"I have great news," I said unable to control the wide smile on my face as I took her hand and lead her out the room.
Compared to my black Marilyn Manson shirt, black jeans, black shoes, and you guessed it black beanie Emma looked like a ray of sunshine.
"You made up with the guys?" She asked hopefully. I laughed.
I wish.
"No," I said frowning slightly.
I didn't take a side for a reason, I was just waiting for all of them to admit they were wrong.
"Then what's so ex-" Emma started to say but stopped as she was shoved roughly by some guys who came out of nowhere.
"Watch where you are going, freak show." One of them said rudely as he began to open his locker.
I stopped. I clenched my jaw trying to calm myself. Emma could tell I was going to snap as she grabbed my arm trying to stop me.
But, it was too late. The damage was done.
I turned quickly to the group of four guys.
They glared at me, but I didn't back down. I looked right at the guy who made the comment.
"What did you just say?" I asked calmly.
The bell rang dismissing classes. People filling into the hall.
"Daniel, just drop it," Emma said lowly so only I could hear.
I was going to listen and leave when the guy smirked at me.
"I was just saying people like her shouldn't be able to go to school with normal people like us." The guy said confidently.
I walked closer to him, Emma tried to stop me but I pulled away. People seem to stop around us to see what was gonna happen.
Devon and Rebecca quickly rushed over to Emma.
"Say that again? I dare you to say that one more fucking time." I said getting in his face.
"I didn't say anything." He said quickly. That's what I thought.
I stared into his cold dead eyes. His friends standing proudly on his sides.
Suddenly, I felt a hand on my shoulder trying to pull me back. I turned to see Michael.
I turned to go with Michael when the guy spoke again stopping me.
"So tell me, what it like fucking Ms.Handicap?" He asked laughing. His friends and half of the crowd that had gathered laughing too.
Instead of responding to his ignorance, I did the most rational thing I could think of.
I quickly turned and with all my strength punched him in his fucking face.
He fell to the ground with a bang and just like that all hell broke loose.
Everything happened quickly.
One of his friends grabbed me and held my arms back as another punched me in the stomach.
I coughed as his fist connected with my ribs. Before he could hit me again Levi tackled him to the ground punching him in the face repeatedly.
I pulled loose from the guy holding me before shoving him into the lockers.
The world around me seemed to be on mute.
I could see people cheering and recording us on their phones but it all felt like a dream.
Suddenly I was snapped out of my thought by a fist connecting with my ear. Son of a bitch.
My ear rung painfully as I fell to the ground.
The guy grabbed my shirt pulling back to punch me again but Devon came up behind him and pulled him off me.
Devon held out his hand to help me up. I could feel blood dripping down my nose from the punch. I wiped my nose on my shirt before taking his hand to stand.
I turned to the fight to see an unfamiliar face screaming in pain while holding his eye. As another two unfamiliar faces tried to take on Michael, Levi stood kicking the guy Devon had just pulled off me in the ribs.
Suddenly, over all the chaos a voice I knew all too well yelled "teacher!".
That was all it took for the crowd to disband as people ran to get away from the fight before the said teacher could come.
The hall cleared in seconds.
And soon only Levi, Devon, Michael, Rebecca, Emma, the four assholes who started the fight, and I were left in the hall.
I turned to Rebecca and smirked. "Smart idea yelling that to clear the hall," I said praising her.
She looked behind me frown before saying "I was serious."
We all turned to see Mr.Schindler standing looking toward us with his arms crossed.
Well shit.
_________________________
We sat outside of the principle's office.
By we, I meant Levi, Michael, Devon, and I.
Emma and Rebecca were with the principal explaining what happened.
The douches who started it were all in the nurse's office, they all looked a lot worse than we did after the fight.
My nose had finally stopped bleeding, but my ear still rang and I had a terrible headache.
It was awkward and silent as the four of us waited for our parents to come.
I cleared my throat.
"Thanks for helping me back there," I said awkwardly.
Along with nice not being my thing neither was expressing my gratitude.
"Friends stick together," Devon said with a shrug as he looked at me before glancing at the other guys.
"Yeah, we couldn't just let you get your ass handed to you," Levi added. The pain of his split lip not stopping him from grinning widely.
"We know you would have done the same had it been any of us. Four against one isn't very fair, we had to even out the odds." Micheal said finally as he moved some hair from his face.
I smiled.
Even though my friends were assholes 96% of the time I could always count on them to have my back.
I felt lucky to have friends like them, not that I would even tell them that.
Before any of us could say anything else the principle's door opened and out stepped Rebecca leading Emma.
It was hard to tell how their talk with the principle went.
Emma was smiling like everything was okay while Rebecca was frowning like she just found out it was the end of the world.
-------------///
9/18/17 A/N: It has been months since I originally wrote this and I just realized I forgot to put the date I originally published it....oops
If you liked it, I would love it if you could vote or comment what you think!